UPDATE: David Griffin Addresses Kevin Love Injury; J.R. Smith Suspension; Moving Forward in the Playoffs
2015-04-28
David Griffin addressed the media this morning at the Cavs practice facility in Independence regarding the latest update on Kevin Love’s injury. The prognosis from the Cavs GM was certainly a less hopeful outlook on both the severity of the injury and the possible availability of Love for the playoffs beyond the next round.
“I want to make it clear that’s highly unlikely,” Griffin said of Love returning during the playoffs from a dislocated left shoulder. “The damage to his shoulder is extensive. This is not a situation where we’re expecting he will be available for any of this and we’re in the process of gathering information in terms of what the exact, right, next steps are and every option is on the table.”
Griffin was attempting to set the record straight following any misconceptions drawn from the team’s release on Monday, which just declared that Love would be out for the Eastern Conference Semi-Final round of the playoffs.
“I think it would be a real surprise if he were able to participate in the postseason,” Griffin said. “I still have a sliver of hope for something very late, but highly unlikely.”
Griffin also touched on other subjects in the aftermath of the events of Game 4 in the Garden against the Celtics, including his feelings on the punishment doled out by the League on J.R. Smith, Kendrick Perkins and Kelly Olynyk, as well as the state of the Cavs moving forward in the playoffs.
He also said this…
David Griffin: "We've dealt with adversity all year long … We have a lot of grown-ass men in that locker room"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 28, 2015
Check out the entire interview here on the Cavaliers page of NBA.com.
Click here for LeBron James’ comments.
Click here for David Blatt’s comments.
Having mourned the past couple of days over losing Love to a WNBA player I’m still excited to watch how this team prevails. I’m really interested to see how Blatt game plans going forward with the limitations he has. I also really want to see a LeBron-Pierce ECF. We may have some Raptors fans pulling for us if we face the Wiz, after all the trolling Pierce had done.
I think the Cavs can reach the finals without Love but win it all without him? Mmmm I don’t think so.
Well, they are going to have to take their game to another level. It could happen.
Also, the Warriors might be limping after getting mugged by the Rockets. I would like to see a few stars go down in the West. Maybe the league will finally do something.
Well, we can we if we have Perkins tear Green’s arm out of his socket. Since the NBA seems to encourage that type of play during the playoffs, I’m sure they won’t mind. You know, physicality and all.
Yes, I’m still pissed.
I bit the bullet and listened to the Simmons/ Windhorst podcast just posted today. It was surprisingly decent. I think Simmons is a little embarrassed that the Love injury happened against a lousy Celtics team that really had no business in the playoffs.
Agree. Very solid and balanced perspectives. Especially by Windy.
Thanks for listening, so I don’t have to, Mike O. Good on Simmons if he actually felt what you inferred. If you’re a fan of basketball you hate that play and you probably feel like the system is broken is a vastly superior team has to risk it all to play scrubs 4 of 7.
Simmons was quite good. I really dislike him, but he was good. He actually sympathized with Cleveland fans, and seemed genuinely disappointed that the Cavs juggernaut didn’t get a chance to continue its rise. It’s a good listen.
Even though I said I wouldn’t do it. I also listened to the podcast. I have a enjoy-hate relationship with Simmons. But this was a solid podcast. He seemed to take his lithium before this one. It did have some pity feel to it though.
Because you have to actually play the games, and because the championship is awarded to the team that is the “last team standing” rather than the team that collected together the best bunch of resumes, I now will make the following prediction:
This year the Cavs win the NBA Championship in the feel good pro sports story of the year.
Why? Because the sum of the parts exceeds the expected level of performance and the Cavs just damn well outplay all their remaining opponents.
You heard it here first.
#noexcuses
Is Chicago a better match-up for the Cavs than the Bucks would be right now?
The Bucks have lots of young, long, athletic guys. If the Cavs are going to need meaningful minutes out of some combination of Marion, Miller, JFJ and Perkins, all those guys could struggle to keep up — like how things were before the trade for Shump and JR.
I think we’re better off playing the Bulls. I just hope they have to play seven games, and with several more overtimes thrown in.
The Bucks would be easy pickins. They can’t score enough to keep up with us and don’t have the big men to handle Mozgov. The Bulls would have been considerably easier with Love to spread them thin, but should still not cause us too much concern as they aren’t as healthy on the front line and aren’t a threat to our score us either. I would much rather play the bucks though because we’d take less of a beating. Look for Blatt to get a tech or two early in a series against Chicago after the ridiculous bravado of the… Read more »
not to troll anyone here but i do not miss chris grant and his smug style. i am certain he would have handled this in a similar fashion but his body language and non verbal expressions might have been passive aggressive.
love is getting a max and i am no longer wishy-washy about his desire to stay. he feels like family after this situation. same for jr smith.
lucky the guys get plenty of rest. next game is monday per jason llody if i read him right.
I don’t think anyone would accuse you of trolling. Not sure you’d find a ton of Chris Grant defenders these days, and certainly very few (if any) who would prefer him to Griff. The only way Love doesn’t get a max is if there’s any limitations of or lingering doubts about his shoulder if he does require surgery. I do think the injury probably results in him opting into his last year on his current deal, then healing up, playing another strong year with the Cavs and deciding about free agency in the cap explosion bonanza of summer 2016. If… Read more »
One thing that I find odd is the media’s general “this crap happens in the playoffs all the time” reaction to this particular injury. Kevin Love’s arm was viciously yanked out of it’s socket and they are all acting like he got his finger stepped on in a scuffle for a loose ball. The lack of reaction by ESPN seems to have kept Olynyk’s punishment on the soft side. When Tirico said something about Love pulling away and that’s what caused it I could have spit in his coca cola. But that seems to be the overall reaction to this… Read more »
Agree re the media reaction. Totally off on Love’s injury in particular and the Celtics’ rough play in general.
This simple and direct description of how Love’s injury happened in today’s piece by Dave McMenamin is the exception:
“Olynyk clamped down on Love’s arm and pulled so hard that it popped out of the shoulder joint.”
Really, that’s freak show stuff when you think about it. As you suggest, imagine if Tirico had described it in similar terms on Sunday. The whole framing of the incident in people’s minds would have been very different.
A one-game suspension for Olynyk is a slap on the wrist.
This isn’t over by a long shot! It’ll be another day on what Cavs will do to Olynyk next year. Time isn’t right now.
Yeah that’s the bull of it all. It’s very difficult for them to do much more to him without a past history of self-control issues. It’s one of those situations where it costs essentially nothing for him to do what he did, but it could wind up costing us everything. The league can’t make up for Kevin’s loss by punishing Olynyk MORE. It hurts our sense of justice, but it’s like trying to bring back a murdered loved one by using the death penalty. Not trying to start a discussion about the death penalty AT ALL…I just mean it’s not… Read more »
While I hate that this happened to KLove, and I fully subscribe to Tom’s thorough illustration earlier this season on how much Love being in the lineup positively affects the Cavs gameplan and analytics, I also was in attendance at the Clippers game in LA that the Cavs won 126-121 without Kevin in the lineup due to back spasms. Yes, they are 3-4 without him. But when you breakdown the losses they were: 96-80 to the Bucks on New Years Eve when the Cavs were also without LBJ 113-98 to the Bulls on the last day before the ASB when… Read more »
Love the attempt at silver lining, but we simply aren’t as good without Kevin Love. Period. It hurts our chances greatly.
I’m a silver lining kind of guy, Gordon. I refuse to wallow in pity for the Cavs or myself as a fan. LeBron said it best… Next Man Up #noexcuses
I’ll get to acceptance well before Monday, but I’m not quite through denial and anger just yet.
It’s un-fricking-believable 1) that it happened and 2) that so much of the general reaction is a shrug of the shoulders (no pun intended) about what Olynyk did.
But yes, they can still be very good without Love.
Totally understand. And really, where else can we vent if not on this blog to likeminded people? Stuff like what happened on Sunday and the media aftermath of faux justification is nauseating and can certainly create a dark cloud of pessimism, anger and denial. It even sounds like it’s driven Cols into becoming a borderline alcoholic… I certainly don’t mean to come off as flippant, and I was enraged and in denial as well on Sunday and Monday (you can go back and check my posts on the game thread and recaps). But life has taught me the valuable lesson… Read more »
Understood. And I basically agree — with the occasional “Grrr” and “Aargh!” thrown in.
Conversely, in the three victories where Kevin didn’t play, the Cavs averaged 121 ppg, while shooting 55% from the field and 46% from three. Granted it’s only a small sample size, but what these figures (combined with the mitigating circumstances in the four losses) show is that just saying the Cavs have a losing record without Kevin Love in the lineup is not entirely accurate. Yet this fact will be hit like a drum over and over in the media narrative during the remainder of the playoffs. All of the pundits who claimed that “Kevin Love isn’t fitting in” during… Read more »
Three things: One, the Cavs have handled this with total class and have looked out for Kevin’s best interests the entire season. That has to bode well for Kevin coming back. Additionally, the odds of him going to Boston have to be zero now. Two, The J.R. Smith suspension will probably save Dan Gilbert some money if he goes the re-sign route. Three, everyone saying that the Cavs don’t have the horsepower to “go all the way” now seems to be missing the lesson: this can happen to any one on any time at any time. The playoffs are grueling,… Read more »
You are absolutely correct. I thought the same thing about J.R. costing himself more than game checks. However, he’s also earned some cred with the team. They may say to the press that everyone has to keep their composure, but they are also glad that he has their back.
I wonder how the national media would react if that had been Steph Curry’s arm being yanked out its socket and as a result missing the rest of the playoffs.
Agree with Joey B.
J.R. lost some money but I am sure he will trade that for the respect for his teammates he has earned.
BTW, notice how when Oll-Oynk finished his kungfu arm twist, he put his hands in the air and ran away? What a dirtball coward. He looks like he thought J.R. was closing in.
Celticsblog claims that the Celtics still have a good shot at signing Love because he used to have sleep overs with Thomas.
Maybe they’ll just twist his arm to sign with them…
(too soon?)
Too soon. Good one, though.
this just so completely sucks for Love. He really didn’t deserve this. I really hate how the league and many fans seem to be okay with “physicality” increasing for the playoffs. Why are we okay with this? Shouldn’t the playoffs be more heavily officiated rather than less? I mean, this is supposed to be the best of the best. Guys who are so skilled with their footwork and positioning and defense that they can do those things without fouling. Why are we okay with it becoming so brutal that guys get injured and ruin the tournament? I don’t get it.… Read more »
Kevin is staying. I take his word for it. I could care less of the perception of anyone who isn’t in that locker room and that locker room seems more than willing to have him and he has repeatedly said that he’s a Cleveland Cavalier. His word over anyone else’s.
Agree. He’s staying. Especially he has seen this team had his back that last game. He’s never been through anything like he has with a true playoff contender team. Besides, he’s invested. He has come so so far. He would have to relearn a new system. team mates, coach and ect. No Way he does that!
I have no doubt Love’s staying in Cle, but I do wonder how this injury could affect his value. Is he going to get that max offer from the Cavs this offseason straight up? Or do they wait to see how the shoulder heals? I popped my shoulder out once — not a full dislocation — and to this day my right shoulder is prone to a quick pop-out-and-back-in in certain situations. When discussing surgery as an option for my shoulder, I was told it could be six months up to a year that I would’ve been unable to reach… Read more »
He;s getting a max offer aa soon as it’s legal to give him the max offer. He’ll be here a while.
I completely agree and love your first paragraph. Have thought that ever since the Bad Boys of Detroit and elevated with the Knicks of Pat Riley. When a team that is far and away so less talented than its opponent, how do they make it more even? By beating on the opposition. Detroit back in 88/89 was deathly afraid of how good the Cavs were. Elbow to Mark Price’s head, issue resolved. Boston has no chance this year so they decide to beat on the Cavs for 48 minutes. Thats not basketball. If you’re good, you let your play speak… Read more »
Thanks to Kevin Love for a hell of a regular season and a hard-hat performance in the playoffs up to this point. The fans were fortunate to be able to root for him throughout the year. I don’t know if “win one for the Gipper” applies here, but I hope the passion and anger of the team can really continue channel the season forward. “We have not yet begun to fight.”
Win one for the gimper? Or make that 12 …
Griffin is a great PR man. His background is serving him well in this elevated role.
I love how he handled things with J.R.
If anyone didn’t believe that Griff was Exec of the Year material prior to this with the moves he’s made, you have to admire his approach to this team, these players and this franchise. The Cavs are in great hands…
Completely agree. Love Griffin, love Blatt, love Love, love all the players, here’s to hoping all the rotation guys are back this fall and for this spring, we are far from done.
I Love all these love love jokes. I love love too.
“We love Love!” should be the chant at the Q in game 1 of round 2.
Well I’m glad Griffin laid it out so no one is going to advocate for Love to come back before he’s ready.
Not sure about going from the hunted to the hunter. LeBron is always going to be hunted.